Many document management systems have been proposed and implemented in the past. These document management systems include systems that store documents and respond to a variety of requests. However, these systems do not easily operate across organizational boundaries and do not perform necessary synchronization and verification e.g. in the case of an audit.
A log is a document management tool used to record information. Logs may use a client-server framework to permit the addition of information from one or more client locations to a server that hosts the log. Because one server hosts each log, such logs are typically anchored to a particular HTTP location.
Logs are designed to provide a reliable history which in turn provides the basis of trust. Current business processes such as double entry accounting and paper trails provide traceability and support for auditing. Verification of electronic log files is necessary to provide similar accountability to that provided by paper. Verification of logs is critical in ensuring the integrity of a log, the log's history, and content referenced by the log.